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Summary: Stick With It!
Review: I've recently started reading the Christie mysteries I've missed along the way, including this, her second full-length Poirot. I found it tough going at times, somewhat confusing...but I've rarely been so blown away by the denouement of a whodunit! I can only imagine that this was the book that cemented Christie's reputation after her debut with "The Mysterious Affair At Styles." Sure, the writing is old-fashioned (it was written in the late 20s, after all), but the intricacies of the plot and the way Christie keeps you off-base and guessing until the very end are simply stunning. You may not have heard of this Christie (it was new to me), but it truly ranks up there with "...Roger Ackroyd" and "...the Orient Express" for sheer suprise value.
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Summary: A superb book with a shocking ending.
Review: In this story, Agatha Christie out does herself. The many character developments and plot twists make this Christie's finest work. Read and Enjoy!
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Summary: Murder, Romance, Mystery, and a detective that solves it all
Review: It all starts out with a mysteriouis letter addressed to the famous detective- Hercule Poirot. Hastings and Poirot go to France to solve a murder. Everything seems to be so simple, but Hercule Poirot proves everyone wrong. As if everything is not hard enough... as always men must go googoo for women! There is a love affair going on that may blow the whole case. Everything is so mysterious, and you don't know who the murderer is until the last page. READ IT!! You'll be surprised. It is a fabulous mystery that you just can't put down!! And just so you know, Monseuir Renauld is not who he seems... he has a very interesting past that... well I won't tell you that.
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Summary: This Early Christie Work Lacks Both Logic and Snap
Review: Like most writers, Christie required a few years and a few books before she truly hit her stride, and MURDER ON THE LINKS was written well before that occurred. Although the basic concept for the crime at the center of the plot is quite clever (Christie will elaborate the same general concept to considerably greater effect in several later works), the book's execution is weak, and throughout the novel Christie attempts to shore up the increasing silliness of the novel by tossing in everything from a sneering police detective to a female acrobat. Everything about the book seems unusually laborious and artificial. Fans who wish to follow the development of the famous Christie style will be very interested in the book--but most others will probably find it more than a little ludicrous and tame to the point of tedium.
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Summary: A mystery that will keep you hungry for more
Review: Murder on the Links is a great book that has the best beginning of any book that I have ever read. It starts off by a detective named Hasting visiting his friend Hercule Poirot. On his way to visit him, he meets a girl that he finds just astonishing. He does nothing about seeing this amazing girl because he believes he will never meet her again. Poirot receives a letter telling him to venture off to a French town because the man who wrote the letter fears his life is in danger. They quickly head to the town, and later find out that the man had been murdered the night before. Poirot doesn't go along with the beliefs that the police hold. He needs to get to the bottom of the case before another murder. I felt that this book was very good in the beginning but began to fall apart halfway through the book. I do not have much experience in the mystery genre, so I do not know what to expect. Being a teenager, I felt that the book was at a more advanced level for me, and I wish I had a dictionary always on hand to look up words in the novel. On the other hand, the character development was amazing. For example, if Christie didn't include the names following the dialogue, I would be able to tell who said it because I already knew so much about the character. In addition, this book had great clues as to who the murderer might be. But were unfortunately usually too hard for me; which might be a good or bad thing. Overall Murder on the Links was a great book that kept you hanging and wanting to read more. Murder on the Links will keep me reading more mysteries!
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Summary: Definitely one of the top three Christie novels
Review: Oh man! This was absolutely spellbinding! Christie's gift is absolutely daunting! This novel never lets you off the hook for one second! It was after reading this that I've stopped reading mysteries written by any other writer. She's in a class all by herself.
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Summary: Fun and twisting
Review: On his way to visit his friend Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings meets a mysterious young woman on the train and finds himself infatuated, but he thinks he won't meet her again, so he does nothing about it. Poirot receives a letter summoning him to a small French town because the man who wrote the letter fears his life is in danger. Hastings and Poirot arrive to find the man has been murdered the night before! Poirot believes that things are not as the police believe, and is determined to prove his beliefs. Hastings meets his mysterious woman again and finds that he has personal stakes in the solving of the case, especially after the second body is discovered, because it can't be just a coincidence that his young woman suddenly appeared, can it? Full of Christie's trademark wit and personalities, "Murder on the Links" is an entertaining mystery that is certain to baffle the reader as it did Hastings and the police. Christie delights in placing numerous red herrings in the path of the reader, and this book is no exception. So just sit back and relax and let Papa Poirot shine.
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Summary: Blackmail, Murder, and Romance In Poirot's Second Case
Review: Poirot and Hastings travel to a French village for their second case. The murdered man, M.Renauld, had actually planned to fake his own murder with the help of his wife. The reason was to escape a heartless blackmailer. However, the planned murder goes awry when a real murderer steps in and disposes of M. Renauld. Poirot's mission is to discover the reason for the blackmail, find the true murderer, and to outwit his competition in the form of M. Giraud of the Paris Surete. Giraud, a young detective, is contemptuous of Poirot's unsophisticated methods but lives to regret his lack of respect for the master detective.Romance blooms for Captain Hastings when he meets and marries his wife as a result of the events in this case. He will leave with her for South America to manage a large ranch in Argentina. There are many loose ends in this novel, but Mrs. Christie ties them all up beautifully as Poirot solves a previously-unsolved twenty-year old murder as well as the current one.
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Summary: THe Murder on the Links book review
Review: The second Hercule Poirot mystery, The Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie is a good example of the method of its detective and his little grey cells. The cast of charaters is small and there are some wonderfully complex twists but the main pleasure to be derived from this book is setting up Poirot in counterpoint to a more "modern" detective who uses less of a psychological approach and more of the blood-hound method examing the minutiae of the scene and following the scent. Hercule Poirot would definately not be a avid "CSI" watcher. The story also contains many romantic elements, another popular genre used by the author, that generally work better here than in other of her books. A good mystery, if not a Christie classic.
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Summary: A Prime Example of the Little Grey Cells
Review: The second Hercule Poirot mystery, The Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie is a good example of the method of its detective and his little grey cells. The cast of charaters is small and there are some wonderfully complex twists but the main pleasure to be derived from this book is setting up Poirot in counterpoint to a more "modern" detective who uses less of a psychological approach and more of the blood-hound method examing the minutiae of the scene and following the scent. Hercule Poirot would definately not be a avid "CSI" watcher. The story also contains many romantic elements, another popular genre used by the author, that generally work better here than in other of her books. A good mystery, if not a Christie classic.
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